Updates include LX travel guitars, new Junior Series guitars, new 16 Series guitars, and several Special and Limited Edition models.
Nazareth, PA (July 10, 2019) -- C. F. Martin & Co. (Martin Guitar) will introduce 14 new guitar models and three updated string products at Summer NAMM in Nashville, Tennessee, July 18-20, 2019. The launch includes additions to the popular Authentic Acoustic strings lineup along with new LX travel guitars, new Junior Series guitars, new 16 Series guitars, and several Special and Limited Edition models.
Little Martin Series The Little Martin may be small in stature, but it's big on tone, quality, and versatility. New to the series, the LX1R and LX1RE feature solid Sitka spruce tops for warmth and projection, with back and sides in a rosewood pattern high-pressure laminate ā a durable, sustainable alternative to wood. The LX1R and LX1RE showcase a laser-etched herringbone rosette, and they are the first LX models to include a pickguard. Each guitar comes with a soft gig bag for easy transport so you can take your music anywhere. The Little Martin is ideal for travel but also makes a great student guitar. All LX models are strung with Authentic Acoustic LifespanĀ® 2.0 strings. To see the entire Little Martin Series, visit Little Martin Series. List price $499 to $599.
Junior Series The Junior Series is designed for players who want a slightly smaller, solid wood guitar with the same build characteristics as its full-sized counterpart, so they don't have to give up that fill-the-room Martin sound in exchange for comfort. The new Auditorium style 000Jr-10 and 000CJr-10E (the first Junior model with a cutaway) feature sapele back and sides, offering warm tones and a strong midrange response, with Sitka spruce tops for added warmth and projection. A soft back edge, along with a tapered neck, makes these guitars comfortable and easy to play. They come equipped with FishmanĀ® Sonitone electronics and include a soft gig bag for easy transport so you can take your music anywhere. All Junior Series models are strung with RetroĀ® light gauge strings. To see the entire Junior Series, visit Martin Junior Series. List price $699 to $799.
16 Series
D-16E and GPC-16E
The 16 Series D-16E and GPC-16E are crafted with satin-finished East Indian rosewood back and sides for resonant sound with deep bass and rich overtones. They include Sitka spruce gloss tops for balanced tone and projection and high-performance neck tapers for ease of playability up and down the fretboard. The D-16E and GPC-16E come equipped with Fishman® Matrix VT Enhance⢠electronics. They are strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $2,199.
00-16E and 000-16E The 16 Series 00-16E and 000-16E are crafted with satin-finished granadillo back and sides, providing prominent bass response while maintaining bell-like overtones. They include Sitka spruce gloss tops for balanced tone and projection and high-performance neck tapers for ease of playability up and down the fretboard. The 00-16E and 000-16E come equipped with Fishman® Matrix VT Enhance⢠electronics. They are strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $2,199.
D-16E Burst and OMC-16E Burst
The 16 Series D-16E Burst and OMC-16E Burst models are crafted with satin-finished ovangkol back and sides for resonant sound with deep bass and rich overtones. Ovangkol can vary both in color and grain complexity for a unique look. These models include mahogany burst ovangkol gloss tops for balanced tone and projection and high-performance neck tapers for ease of playability up and down the fretboard. The D-16E Burst and OMC-16E Burst come equipped with Fishman® Matrix VT Enhance⢠electronics. They are strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $2,399.
Special and Limited Editions
000E Black Walnut Ambertone
This Auditorium model is crafted with black walnut back and sides for well-balanced tone that bridges the gap between rosewood and mahogany. A Sitka spruce gloss top, hand-finished with an ambertone burst, adds to the balanced tone and improves projection. The high-performance taper neck makes it easy to move up and down the fretboard. The fingerboard and bridge are made from FSC® Certified Richlite®. This model, which is limited to 125 instruments, comes equipped with Fishman® Matrix VT Enhance⢠electronics and a soft-shell case for ease of travel. It is strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $2,399.
00L Fly Fishing
This sloped-shoulder art guitar is crafted with stunning gloss-finished goncalo alves back and sides, which provide a responsive bottom end and lively midrange. It includes a Sitka spruce gloss top for balanced tone and projection and a high-performance neck taper for ease of playability up and down the fretboard. The top is printed with custom fly fishing-themed artwork by William Matthews and includes custom pearl inlay on the fingerboard and headstock. This model, which is limited to 100 instruments, is left-hand friendly and can be fitted with optional electronics. It is strung with Authentic Acoustic LifespanĀ® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $4,399.
D-16E Brexit
This 14-fret Dreadnought art guitar is crafted with satin-finished sycamore back and sides, which provide clear and transparent overtones with a punchy response. It includes a Sitka spruce gloss top for balanced tone and projection and a high-performance neck taper for ease of playability up and down the fretboard. The top is printed with playful, custom Brexit-themed artwork by Robert F. Goetzl. This model is fitted with Fishman® Matrix VT Enhance⢠electronics and strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $2,799.
American Chopper Custom
Martin collaborated with the hit TV show American Chopper and Paul Jr. Designs to build a three-wheeled vehicle and an automotive-inspired custom guitar that were featured in two television episodes broadcast in March 2019. Limited to only seven instruments, this 14-fret Dreadnought guitar features design elements such as aluminum riveted panels (a first for Martin) and custom inlay in wood and copper. It includes an Engelmann spruce top, which produces complex tones, paired with Guatemalan rosewood back and sides to add deep basses and crisp trebles. The model features European flamed maple binding, nickel open-gear tuners, skeletonized butterbean knobs, and a stainless-steel label. It is strung with Titanium Core strings. List price $39,999.
Strings
Authentic Acoustic Flexible Core
Martin Flexible Core strings get new packaging and officially join the Authentic Acoustic strings family. As with all of Martin's Authentic Acoustic products, Flexible Core strings are now crafted with our highest tensile-strength core wire, which has been tin-plated on all six strings for added corrosion resistance; because what you don't see matters! When coupled with our highest quality wrap wire, you get consistent true tone that you can count on song after song. With Flexible Core strings, you get total flexibility and total control. Available in 92/8 Phosphor Bronze and Silk & Phosphor. List price $6.99 to $9.99.
Authentic Acoustic Bass
Halfway between the kick drum and the mandolin lies full, thumping bass. We've got your rhythm section covered with Martin Authentic Acoustic SPĀ® Bass strings. Now part of the Authentic Acoustic strings family, Authentic Acoustic Bass strings are now crafted with our highest tensile-strength core wire, which has been tin-plated on all four strings for added corrosion resistance; because what you don't see matters! Available in long-lasting 92/8 Phosphor Bronze. List price $19.99.
The Original M140
The string that started it all 50 years ago is now back by popular demand. Martin's original M140 light gauge strings, with 80/20 composition, are ideally suited for players who love deep, rich bass tones and clear, bright trebles. Providing brilliance and clarity, Martin M140s are perfect for daily use and all playing styles. List price $5.49.
For more information:
Martin
Sublime, fronted by Jakob Nowell, son of late Sublime singer Bradley Nowell, are in the studio writing and recording new songs for an upcoming full-length album. This marks their first new album since 1996.
When not performing at various festivals across North America in 2024, front man Jakob Nowell immersed himself in the Sublime catalog and found a deep sense of connection to his late father. The band is tapping into the 90s nostalgia, writing and recording the new songs with powerhouse producing duo Travis Barker and John Feldmann, in addition to working with producer Jon Joseph (BĆRNS). The first single will be released this Summer via their newly established label Sublime Recordings.
"I grew up on Sublime. ā40oz. to Freedomā changed the way I listened to music. Iām so honored to be working with the guys in Sublime. Creating music for this album has been so fun and exciting. Bradley comes through his son Jakob while writing in the studio and performing. Chills every day in the studio when he sings and play guitar. This is going to be really special." ā Travis Barker
āSublime has always been a huge influence on me and to be able work with the band has been inspirational and game changingā¦It has been a highlight of my life to work on such a seminal record with such talented people. Iām so grateful for this opportunity and to continue the legacy and keep it authentic to what they have historically done.ā ā John Feldmann
After Jakob Nowellās debut as Sublimeās new front man at Coachella 2024, he and his uncles Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson continued the momentum of this latest chapter of the band, performing at over 20 festivals and shows across North America by the end of last year. Additional highlights from 2024 include Sublimeās late-night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, a 4-song set on the Howard Stern Show and the bandās first top 10 hit on alternative radio since 1997 with their single āFeel Like That,ā featuring the vocals of both Bradley Nowell and his son Jakob together.
2025 is shaping up to be an even busier year for the band, with a handful of headlining shows, high-profile festival appearances to support the release of the new album.
For more information, please visit sublimelbc.com.
Sublime 2025 Tour Dates
- April 5 ā LIV Golf Miami ā Miami, FL
- April 18 ā Red Rocks Amphitheater ā Morrison, CO
- May 3 ā Beachlife Festival ā Redondo Beach, CA
- May 16 ā Welcome To Rockville ā Daytona Beach, FL
- May 23 ā BottleRock Napa Valley ā Napa, CA
- May 25 ā Boston Calling ā Boston, MA
- June 14 ā Vans Warped Tour ā Washington, DC
- July 12 ā 89.7 The Riverās 30th Anniversary Show ā Omaha, NE
- July 20 ā Minnesota Yacht Club Festival ā Saint Paul, MN
- September 14 ā Sea.Hear.Now ā Asbury Park, NJ
- September 19 ā Shaky Knees Festival ā Atlanta, GA
Price unveiled her new band and her new signature model at a recent performance at the Gibson Garage in Nashville.
The Grammy-nominated alt-country and Americana singer, songwriter, and bandleader tells the story behind the creation of her new guitar and talks about the role acoustic Gibson workhorses have played in her musical historyāand why she loves red-tailed hawks.
The Gibson J-45 is a classic 6-string workhorse and a favorite accomplice of singer-songwriters from Bob Dylan to Jorma Kaukonen to James Taylor to Gillian Welch to Lucinda Williams to Bruce Springsteen to Noel Gallagher. Last week, alt-country and Americana artist Margo Price permanently emblazoned her name on that roster with the unveiling of her signature-model J-45. With an alluring heritage cherry sunburst finish and a red-tail-hawk-motif double pickguard, the instrument might look more like a show pony, but under the hard-touring and hard-playing Priceās hands, it is 100-percent working animal.
The 6-string was inspired by the J-45 she bought at Nashvilleās Carter Vintage Guitars after she was signed to Third Man Records, where she made her 2016 ice-breaker album, Midwest Farmerās Daughter. But her affection for Gibson acoustics predates that, going back to when she found a 1956 LG-3 in her grandmotherās home. The guitar had been abandoned there by her songwriter great uncle, Bobby Fischer.
āI played it for years before I found my J-45,ā Price recounts. āAt Carter Vintage, I tried a lot of guitars, but when I picked up that J-45, I loved that it was a smaller guitar but really cut through, and I was just really drawn to the sound of it. And so I went home with that guitar and Iāve been playing it ever since.ā
āHaving a signature model was something I had dreamed about.ā
Of course, Price was also aware of the modelās history, but her demands for a guitar were rooted in the presentāthe requirements of the studio and road. The 1965 J-45 she acquired at Carter Vintage, which is also a cherry āburst, was especially appealing ācompared to a Martin D-21 or some of the other things that I was picking up. I have pretty small hands, and it just was so playable all up the neck. It was something that I could easily play barre chords on. I could immediately get everything that I needed out of it.ā
If youāve seen Price on TV, including stops at Saturday Night Live, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, youāve seen her ā65. And youāve also seen, over the years, that part of the soundholeās top has been scraped away by her aggressive strumming. Itās experienced worse wear from an airline, though. After one unfortunate flight, Price found her guitar practically in splinters inside a badly crushed case. āIt was like somebody would have had to drive over this case with a truck,ā she relates. Luckily, Dave Johnson from Nashvilleās Scale Model Guitars was able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
After that, an alternative guitar for the road seemed like a requirement. āHaving a signature model was something I had dreamed about,ā Price says. Friends in her songwriting circle, including Lukas Nelson and Nathaniel Rateliff, already had them. Four years ago, a tweet asking which women they thought should have signature models appeared, and one of her fans wrote āMargo Price.ā Smartly, Price tagged Gibson and retweeted. Codey Allen in Gibson entertainment relations spotted the tweet and agreed.
The double pickguard was chosen for Priceās J-45 because of its symmetry, as a nod to the Hummingbird, and due to her heavy strumming hand.
Photo courtesy of Gibson
āThe neck is not quite as small as my J-45, but it is just a bit smaller than many J-45s fives, and very playable no matter what size hands you have.ā
āAnd so we began our journey of building this guitar,ā Price says. āI debated whether it should be the LG-3, which I still have hanging on my wall, or the J-45. I went to Montana and visited their [acoustic] factory and sat down with Robi Johns [director of sales and marketing at Gibson acoustic], and we ultimately decided that the J-45 was my guitar. Then we started talking about the specs. We did pull from the LG-3 in that the body of this signature guitar is a bit smaller. It still has a really loud, clear sound that rings through. The neck is not quite as small as my 1965 J-45, but it is just a bit smaller than many J-45s, and very playable no matter what size hands that you have.ā
The pickup that Price selected is a L.R. Baggs VTC Element with a preamp, and she took a prototype of the guitar on the road opening for the Tedeschi Trucks Band. āI am used to playing with a really loud band, with drums and sometimes a couple electric guitars, and I wanted to make sure that this guitar just cut through,ā she says. āIt was really important to me that it be loud, and it cut beautifully. Itās got a mahogany body and scalloped bracing, which makes it very sturdy. This guitar is a workhorse, just like me.ā
The Margo Price J-45ās most arresting characteristic, in addition to its warm sunburst finish, is its double-sided pickguard with an etching of a quartet of red-tailed hawks in flight. Itās practical for her strumming style, but itās also got a deeper significance.
āWe talked about all sorts of things that we could put on the pickguard, and Iāve always been a big fan of the Hummingbird, so what we did is a bit of a nod to that,ā Price continues. āIāve always been drawn to red-tailed hawks. They are supposed to be divine messengers, and they have such strength. They symbolize vision and protection. I would always count them along the highway as Iād be driving home to see my family in Illinois.ā
Birds of a feather: āIāve always been drawn to red-tailed hawks,ā says Price. āThey are supposed to be divine messengers, and they have such strength. They symbolize vision and protection.ā
Photo courtesy of Gibson
With its comfortable neck, slightly thinner body, and serious projection, Price notes, āI wanted my guitar to be something that young girls can pick up and feel comfortable in their hands and inspire songs, but I didnāt want it to be so small that it felt like a toy, and that it didnāt have the volume. This guitar has all of those things.ā To get her heavy sound, Price uses DāAddario Phosphor Bronze (.012ā.053) strings.
Price says she and her signature J-45, which is street priced at $3,999, have been in the studio a lot lately, āand I have a whole bunch of things Iām excited about.ā In mid March, she debuted her new bandāwhich includes Logan Ledger and Sean Thompson on guitars, bassist Alec Newman, Libby Weitnauer on fiddle, and Chris Gelb on drumsāin a coming out party for the Margo Price Signature Gibson J-45 at the Gibson Garage in Nashville. āIāve been with my previous band, the Price Tags, for more than 10 years, and itās definitely emotional when a band reaches the end of its life cycle,ā she says. āBut itās also really exciting, because now, having a fiddle in the band and incredible harmony singers ⦠itās a completely different vibe. Iāve got a whole bunch of festivals coming up this year. Weāre playing Jazz Fest in New Orleans, and Iām so excited for everyone to hear this new iteration of what weāre doing.ā
With its heritage cherry sunburst finish and other appointments, the Margo Price Signature Gibson J-45 balances classic and modern guitar design.
Photo courtesy of Gibson
Get premium spring reverb tones in a compact and practical format with the Carl Martin HeadRoom Mini. Featuring two independent reverb channels, mono and stereo I/O, and durable metal construction, this pedal is perfect for musicians on the go.
The Carl Martin HeadRoom Mini is a digital emulation of the beloved HeadRoom spring reverb pedal, offering the same warm, natural toneāplus a little extraāin a more compact and practical format. It delivers everything from subtle room ambiance to deep, cathedral-like reverberation, making it a versatile addition to any setup.
With two independent reverb channels, each featuring dedicated tone and level controls, you can easily switch between two different reverb settings - for example, rhythm and lead. The two footswitches allow seamless toggling between channels or full bypass.
Unlike the original HeadRoom, the Mini also includes both mono and stereo inputs and outputs, providing greater flexibility for stereo rigs. Built to withstand the rigors of live performance, it features a durable metal enclosure, buffered bypass for signal integrity, and a remote jack for external channel switching.
Key features
- Two independent reverb channels with individual tone and level controls
- Mono and stereo I/O for versatile routing options
- Buffered bypass ensures a strong, clear signal
- Rugged metal construction for durability
- Remote jack for external channel switching
- Compact and pedalboard-friendly design
HeadRoom Mini brings premium spring reverb tones in a flexible and space-savingformatāperfect for any musician looking for high-quality, studio-grade reverb on the go.
You can purchase HeadRoom Mini for $279 directly from carlmartin.com and, of course, also from leading music retailers worldwide.
For more information, please visit carlmartin.com.
Together with Nathaniel, weāre decoding our favorite eras of the Edgeās tonesāfrom his early Memory Man days through his expanding delay rack rig, into his 1990s Achtung Baby sounds, and all the way through to his Sphere rig. How does he get those amazing delay tones? And what are those cool picks he uses?
Thereās a good chance that if youāre a guitar fan, youāve seen Nathaniel Murphyās gear demosāeither on his Instagram account, where he goes by @zeppelinbarnatra, or on the Chicago Music Exchange page. His solo arrangements of classic tunes display his next-level technique and knack for clever arranging, and he makes our jaws drop every time he posts. When we learned that the Irish guitarist is a huge fan of U2ās The Edge, we knew he had to be our expert for this episode.
Together with Nathaniel, weāre decoding our favorite eras of the Edgeās tonesāfrom his early Memory Man days through his expanding delay rack rig, into his 1990s Achtung Baby sounds, and all the way through to his Sphere rig. How does he get those amazing delay tones? And what are those cool picks he uses?